


Re-Bloom

by ScarletPassion



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-15
Updated: 2020-10-15
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:15:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27032533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletPassion/pseuds/ScarletPassion
Summary: Melinda watched them kill her husband, but he's not dead? So, where is he?
Relationships: Female Sole Survivor/Male Sole Survivor
Comments: 1
Kudos: 2





	Re-Bloom

**Author's Note:**

> Hello I started a new fallout thing and I kinda love it so here's chapter 1!

The world was dark. A gloomy, starlit wasteland that went on for miles and miles. My breath was completely taken away by the sight of my home being destroyed. It all felt like a horrible nightmare. Had I not seen the bomb drop with my own eyes, I would’ve truly believed that it was a dream.

First, Shane being shot and then those giant roaches and all those people… God, they were all dead in their pods. And there was nothing…

I shook the thoughts away. I had bigger fish to fry. 

My mind went back to Shane, the love of my life. My best friend in the whole world. Each time my heart beat it felt like it was only seconds away from shattering completely. The only thread that kept it intact was knowing that my son was somewhere out there.

I watched him get shot by a group of mysterious strangers. The man who did it was bald with a scar and the coldest, soulless eyes I ever saw. His face would be forever etched into my memory and surely haunt my dreams until the day I died. I could only hope I would find him someday and put an end to him. 

Shane’s body was gone when I escaped from that cryogenic deathtrap. I followed the trail of blood all the way to the elevator, but here on the surface I could no longer find any traces of it. 

I wanted to scream, but I feared what creatures would come looking for me if I did. There were dog-sized roaches in the vault, who knew what would be lurking out here in the open.

I just needed to find food and more ammo and shelter. Quickly. I could always go back into the vault for the night, but I really couldn’t stand the thought of being in that place. The place where my son and my partner were taken from me.

I rushed for the home I once knew. Under the dim light of the moon and stars I could see what was left of Sanctuary Hills. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to give me some semblance of hope. I prayed that Shane had somehow escaped the vault and was there. Or, better yet, that he had found our son and was bringing him back to me now as I trampled through the dark woods. 

I expected to find fresh air up here above ground, as that would’ve been normal and welcome. But instead I found that the air was a little stale and sour. I couldn’t place what exactly it was that made it smell that way, but if I had to guess I’d say it was the radiation from the bombs that had taken out the entire world and life I once knew.

I stopped in my tracks, chest heaving. The radiation. I looked at the bare skin of my hands and frowned deeply. I knew the signs of radiation poisoning. I’d seen plenty of it during the war. 

The bomb that I watched fall from the sky like an angel booted out of the sky was not too far from the vault. My skin should at least be turning red right now, if not blistering painfully. But instead I felt perfectly fine. It was odd. Had I developed some sort of immunity in the vault? Was my memory wrong? Did the bomb fall further away than I initially thought?

I shook my head and took off again. I didn’t have time to try and figure it out. All that mattered was that I was perfectly fine and needed to find my best friend and our baby. In a place like this, who knew what kind of people were lurking about?

The kind that shoot unarmed people at point-blank range for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

Sanctuary Hills came in sight once more as I finally broke free of the surrounding woods. I scanned the old neighborhood, taking in the demolished houses and the ones that were still standing. There was debris everywhere. I felt my heart begin to sink as I laid eyes on my home from before.

I slowly made my way over, placing the palm of my hand against the wall. It was covered in holes and cracks and a thick layer of dust. I felt tears well in my eyes. It was too overwhelming. This was my home, but it was not the same. It never would be.

I pressed my forehead to the wall next to my hand and let the tears fall out. I was alone so there was no harm in letting it all out. No one would see.

I choked out a sob and clenched my hand into a tight fist. I banged it against the wall once and then twice and then a few more times until my hand was bloody and ached. The sting of it was distracting, but not enough. I cursed under my breath and pulled away from the wall.

“Hey, what are you-”

A sudden, loud voice nearly made me jump right out of my own skin. I whirled around, hands up and ready for a fight. The last thing I expected was to find people here, and yet.  
My eyes finally found the source of the voice in the dark. I could see the figure of a man with a hat that almost looked like something a pirate would wear. He was holding a weapon, but it was lowered. Its laser was red and bright, illuminating part of the cracked pavement. 

“You’re from the vault.” The man chuckled breathlessly, “Are you Melinda?”

I was completely taken aback by the use of my name. I began to wonder how he knew it, but then it hit me. Shane. God damn it, he was alive and he had been here. Maybe he was still here, waiting for me.

“Is Shane here? I need to find him, our son-”

“I know about Shaun. Shane told me about both of you.” The man cleared his throat, “My name is Preston Garvey, by the way. I’m part of the Commonwealth Minutemen.” 

He held his hand out to me and I took it hesitantly. I gave it a firm shake nonetheless and peered past him. I was looking for any sign of Shane. A light flickered on in the house across the street and I felt my heart leap, nearly breaking through my ribcage.

“It’s great to meet you. Can I see him? Is he awake?” I asked, the words spilling out so fast that they almost blended together.

I released Preston’s hand and stepped past him. I made her way toward the house, too excited to think straight. Before I could reach the open doorway, Preston grabbed my arm and held me in place.

“Before you go in there, he’s not here anymore.”

“What do you mean he’s not here anymore? Where’d he go?”

“When he couldn’t find a way to get you out of that pod, he set his sights on your son. I promised him that Sturges would find a way to free you and the others, but it seems you’ve gotten yourself out.”

I swallowed around the lump in my throat and nodded. I ran a hand through my tangled chestnut hair and turned away from Preston. Shane tried to free me and failed, so now he was after Shaun… Thank God. Maybe I’d be able to catch up to him in time. I could help him find Shaun and kill the bastards who took him. I only needed to figure out which way he went exactly…

“So, where is everyone else?” Preston interrupted her thoughts.

“Uh.” 

I frowned and turned to face him again slowly, my shoulders slumped in shame. My face burned red as I remembered all of those people. The alarms and the flashing lights… The error code that played every single time I tried to free someone. 

I looked down at my useless hands, at the chipped and bleeding nails. When I couldn’t get the pods to open using the pads, I tried to pry them open. I was desperate to save as many people as I could.

But in the end, I could only save myself.

“They’re dead.” I sighed heavily, unable to meet Preston’s eyes, “Mine unlocked somehow when the system began to malfunction. I tried to open the other pods. I tried… Oh God, I didn’t save them.”

I brought a hand up to cover my mouth and nose, a feeble attempt to hide the shame and guilt I felt. The emotions welled up again, and with it came tears. I bent over, bracing my other hand on my knee as a strangled, muffled sound escaped my lips. 

“Hey, it’s okay. You did what you could.”

Preston’s voice was as soft as the hand he pressed against my back. He stood with me as I cried. The hand he held to my back was the only thing steadying me and keeping me grounded to the Earth. I was grateful for his presence and his silence. There were no words that could ease my mind now. It was something I needed to deal with and come to terms with on my own.

The guilt was like a weight pushing my shoulders down. I was sure that it would crush me if I wasn’t careful. Even though I knew their deaths were not my fault because I wasn’t the one who put them in those pods, I still felt responsible for them. In the military I saved so many people. But as a civilian- a veteran- I couldn’t save any. I was useless.

“I know this all has to be a lot for you. It was a lot for Shane as well. Why don’t you come inside and rest for the night. I can get you up to speed once you’ve slept and got some food in you.”

I nodded numbly but didn’t say anything. Preston exhaled softly and led me into the house. There was a woman in the kitchen glaring at the two of us. Normally, I’d be annoyed by that look, but right now I couldn’t bring myself to care about anything besides the horrific things that had happened in the vault.

Preston came to a stop in front of an empty room with a dirty twin bed right smack in the middle and a single dresser against the wall on the right. He cleared his throat as I sank down onto the bed, my shoulders were still slumped with the weight of the guilt that was eating her alive from the inside out.

“There’s some clothes in the drawers over there. Feel free to change and get comfortable. I’ll be on patrol tonight, but Sturges is in the room across the hall and can get word to me if you need anything.”

“Thanks.” I mumbled, staring at my bloody fingers hopelessly.

Preston left the room, pulling the curtain across the doorway before leaving the house. I took a deep breath and looked up at the dilapidated ceiling. I could just barely see stars in the tiny cracks and crevices there.

I then looked back down at the vault suit covering my whole body. I suddenly felt very claustrophobic. The suit was like a prison and a reminder of all the bad things that happened in the last twenty-four hours.

I stood up and clawed at the zipper behind me. I was hyperventilating and hot, the suit felt like it was burning my skin off. When I finally got a good grip on it, I yanked it down and peeled the suit off all the while kicking off my boots in one clumsy movement. 

I tossed the suit into the corner so that it was out of sight. I breathed a deep sigh of relief and closed my eyes. I felt ten pounds lighter without that damn thing on. I managed to find a white t-shirt in one of the drawers and a pair of sturdy trousers in another. I pulled them both over my body. 

I laid back on the lumpy mattress. I could feel my mind wanting to wander back to the events of the evening, but I fought with all my might to keep my mind blank. I gazed up at the stars in between the cracks of the ceiling and hummed a soft tune from before.


End file.
